Control for seat structure



April 5, 1949.

IN. WYETH 2,466,345

CONTROL FOR SEAT STRUCTURE Filed May 23, 1945 INVENTOR. MITHA/v/EL. METH Patented Apr. 5, 1949 v g I UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE 2,466,345 CONTROL FOR SEAT STRUCTURE Nathaniel Wyeth, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application May 23, 1945, Serial No. 595,268

6 Claims. (Cl. 29663) This invention relates to control for seat strucso arranged this bar that it may serve the purpose tures and refers more particularly to improveof a robe rail often carried at the rear of the front ments in the suspension and control of seats seat for the convenience of the occupants of the employed in motor vehicles. rear compartment of the vehicle. However, if It is customary in motor vehicles to provide a desired, the stabilizer bar may be concealed and drivers seat sprung on a supporting floor strucotherwise so located as not to project into the rear ture and extending substantiallythe width of the compartment. driver's compartment so that several passengers, Further objects and advantages of my invenin addition to the driver, may occupy the seat. tion will be more apparent from the following However, when one end portion of the seat is description of several embodiments of the princiloaded more than the other end portion as, for ples of my invention, reference being made to the example, when the driver alone occupies the seat, accompanying drawing in which:

the seat is tilted laterally of the vehicle by reason Fig. l is an elevational view looking forwardly of its deflection on its sprung support more tothe of the vehicle at the false back of the front seat loaded end than to the unloaded end. This is structure.

not only unsightly but results in objectionable 'Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the front seat strucaction of the seat when vibrations are set up in ture and associated control.

the sprung support as when the vehicle travels Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the Fig. 2

over a rough road. structure with parts broken away to illustrate the In addition, when the seat back is tied with the seat structure and control parts.

seat then the foregoing objectionable character- Fig. 4 is a detail sectional elevational view taken istics are aggravated. It is advantageous to conasindicated by line 44 of Fig. 2.

nect the seat and seat back to each other 'in Fig. 5 is a detail sectional plan view illustrating order to minimize the scrubbing action of'the seat one of the supports for the stabilizer bar. back on the back of the driver when he moves Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevational up and down on the seat when the vehicle is viewgenerally similar to Fig.4 but illustrating travelling over rough roads. Heretofore, the a modification of my invention. driver was sub ected to fatiguing and unpleasant In the drawings the motor vehicle includes a pitching often interfering seriously with his con supporting structure comprising the usual floor trol of the motorvehicle because of the undamped 3o portion I 0 and an upright false back structure I I vibrations of the seat, such conditions being which defines a for aggravated when the seat andseat back are tilted compartment I2 and a rearward due to non-uniform loading. I f partment I3. It is an object of my invention to overcomethe "The front seat structure A comprises a load-'. receivi'ngseat portion'l4 and a back portion l5 the I I4 comprises a cushion l9 carried by,a frame 20 1S non-uniformly loaded as when only the driver which in turn is mounted by springs 2| on the occupies the scat. floor I0. Thevseat I 4 and back l5 are tied together A further obJect is to provide a novel means for as by the hinges '22 pivotally connecting the frame ia pm v ra l ns f t a W fl y dampparts 'zoand'n so that the seat and back vibrate as'a unit substantiall' ertic ll of either a seat or seat back, I preferablyconne'ct p t 2]; d on lsp'rmg these seat portionstogether such that theresult- 5 m tf fi false back H is I 1 ,each link extending rearwardly for h seat" 5o fixed attachment, as by welding, toflan end ea Another o i t o {ny Invent on s to DIOVldB a w tion of a transversely extending torsion stabilizer combination robe rail and stabilizercontrol for rod or bar B. Each opening 23'is closed by a a' seat'or-seat back or both. In its more limited bracket housing 26 att- I I aspectsi my invention contemplates the employ H and shaped. to accommodate,oscillationof its ment of a stabilizer bar for tilt-control and I'have as associated link 24" abdu'tfthelaxi r dried B. A

side cover plate 28 is secured at 28 to the housmg 26 after the bar B has been assembled.

The stabilizer rod B has each of its end portions rotatably supported in a hollow cylindrical lateral extension portion 29 of a bracket 26, intermediate portions of rod B between the brackets 25 being thus spaced rearwardly from support H to function as a robe rail for the convenience of the passengers in the rear compartment l3, the limited oscillation of rod B not interfering with such function.

One of the rod supports in the housing portion 29 is illustrated in Fig. and preferably comprises a ball and socket type of support one member of which, such as the ball part 30, being fixed with rod B and the socket part 3i being fixed through its housing 32 with the portion 29. At some convenient point or points in the vibratory seat unit and control system, I provide means bodirnent of my invention this means is incorporated in each of the pivotal supports for rod B as follows.

, One of the ball and socket parts, preferably the socket part Si, is formed of known nonmetallic bearing composition such that when the parts are assembled as in Fig. 5 a predetermined pressure occurs between parts 30 and 3|. This results in frictional resistance to rotation of rod and also damps vibration of the seat l4 and back by reason of the interconnection of these-parts with the rod B.

In operation, when the seat I4 is uniformly loaded, as when it is occupied by two persons of about the same weight, then the seat [4 and back l5 deflect substantially vertically and vibrate up and down on springs 21 as a unit and without tilt in the seat or back, the rod B oscillating by reason of the connection through links 24 without 'torsionally loading the rod. However, the vibrations will be damped by the friction pivot supports for the rod at the ball and socket 30, 3|. This damping action snubs out the vibrations and brings the parts to rest without unduly prolonged vibrations of the seat and back. The pivot connection 22 causes the back l5 to move up and down with seat l4 thus preventing a scrubbing effect on the backs of the occupants.

When the seat I4 is loaded non-uniformly, then tendency of the seat to tilt is substantially overcome by the action of the stabilizer bar B. Thus, when only the driver occupies the seat N, the seat is deflected downwardly causing the back IE to move downwardly and operating through the link 24, located behind the driver, to torsionally twist rod B about its axisthereby efieoting corresponding movement of the other link-and corresponding deflection of the other end portion of the seat and back. Furthermore, vibrations of the seat and back are likewise transmitted through rod B accompanied by damping action at the sockets 3| such that the seat frame and the back ii are maintained on the same level relative to the floor l0.

In the Fig. 6 modification the stabilizer bar B is now located forwardly of compartment 13 concealed in front of support H, the latter in this instance being deflected rearwardly at 33 to accommodate the links H and bar B and at 34 to house the ball and socket supports in conjunction with cap 35. Inasmuch as it is advantageous to employ relatively long links 24, I have provided a recess I! in theme: frame II at each link for damping the vibrations and in the present em- B and damps oscillation of the rod about its axis to receive the forward ends of the links at pivots 25. Otherwise the construction is identical with that aforesaid and the operation is likewise identical with the exception that the Fig. 6 bar is now not employed as a robe rail.

It will be understood that upholstery fabric (not shown) will ordinarily be employed to cover the false back H at its rear face as well as the supports for rod B and the rod enclosure 33 in the Fig. 6 arrangement.

I claim: a

1. In a motor vehicle seat structure, the combination of a supporting structure having substantially horizontal and a substantially vertical portions, a seat comprising a load-receiving structure springingly supported by said supporting structure for substantially vertical deflection, a seat back located in proximity with said vertical portion, means operably connecting said loadreceiving structure with said seat back for moving the latter generally vertically in response to vertical deflection of said load-receiving structure, a stabilizer bar located on the opposite side of said vertical portion from said seat back and in a horizontal plane spaced from said vertical portion, said stabilizer bar thus being adapted to serve as a robe rail and said stabilizer bar bein rotatably supported by said vertical portion of said supporting structure, and means connecting opposite end portions of said bar to said seat back so constructed and arranged as to impart rotation to said bar in response to said vertical movement of said seat back.

2. In a motor vehicle seat structure, the combination of a supporting structure having substantially horizontal and a substantially vertical portions, a seat comprising a load-receiving structure springingly supported by said supporting structure for substantially vertical deflection, a seat back located in proximity with said vertical portion, means operably connecting said load-receiving structure with said seat back for movin the latter generally vertically in response to vertical deflection of said load-receiving structure, a stabilizer bar located on the opposite side of said vertical portion from said seat back and in a horizontal plane spaced from said vertical portion, said stabilizer bar thus being adapted to serve as a robe rail and said stabilizer bar being supported on said supporting structure for rotation about the longitudinal axis of said bar, and means pivotally connecting opposite end portions of said bar to the respective opposite end portions of said seat back so constructed and arranged as to impart rotation to said bar about .said axis in response to said vertical movement of said seat back thereby to efiect, in cooperation with said connecting means between said seat back and said load-receiving structure of said seat, substantially uniform deflection of said seat back and said load-receiving structure of said seat when the latter is loaded more toward one of its end portions than the other.

3. In a motor vehicle seat structure, the combination of a supporting structure having substantially horizontal and a substantially vertical portions, a seat comprising a load-receiving structure springingly supported by said supporting structure for substantially vertical deflection, a seat back located in proximity with said vertical portion, means operably connecting said leadreceiving structure with said seat back for moving the latter'generally vertically in response to vertical deflection of said load-receiving structure, a stabilizer bar located onthe opposite side of said cooperation with said connecting means between said seat back and said load-receiving structure of said seat, substantially uniform deflection 01' said seat back and said load-receiving structure of said seat when the latter is loaded more toward one of its end portions than the other, said bar pivotally connected to said seat back.

5. In a vehicle seat structure, the combination of a supporting structure including a base portion portion, means c seat back portion.

6. In a motor v The following r REFEREN file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number ehicie, the combination of a.

NATHANIEL WYETH.

CES CITED eferences are of record in the Name Date Adams Feb. 8, 1916 Oliver May 28, 1918 McPherson Sept. 11, 1923 Hilburger Jan. 7, 1930 Kliesrath Mar. 16, 1937 Hickman et a1 Sept. 12, 1944 Hickman Jan. 9, 1945 Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,466,345.

A rils, 1949. NATHANIEL WYETH It is hereby certifi ed that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 5, line 25, claim 4, for the Word spacer read spaced; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with thi same may conform to the record of the case in the Pate s correction therein that the nt Office. Signed and sealed this 6th day of September, A. D.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant C'ommz'ssioner of Patents. 

